I happened to hear a radio ad the other day for a local Boston area car dealership. The tag line at the end of the ad grabbed my attention (as tag lines are supposed to do):
“We don’t sell cars. We help people buy them.”
There must be a zillion businesses that use some variation of this consultative-selling message. But there’s a lot about the message to like, especially in the Internet age. (more…)
Chris Anderson, writing in Wired Magazine, reminds us that King Gillette achieved business success in the early 1900s by giving away razors so he could sell razor blades. He finds many more examples of the “give it away free” marketing approach in today’s electronic marketplace. Chris says:
“It’s now clear that practically everything Web technology touches starts down the path to gratis, at least as far as we consumers are concerned.”
But I don’t think that’s the lesson we should learn from Mr. Gillette. Or (for that matter) the lesson we should learn from the marketing of cell phones, ink jet printers, or iPods. (more…)
You’re building a marketing plan for a new product. You are familiar with the product’s capabilities and features. You have identified several key applications with attractive value propositions. You have selected the most promising industry segments and narrowed these targets to specific classes of customers within those segments. You have decided upon a channel strategy and enlisted a few initial channel partners. All you have left to do is commission some brochures, data sheets and other marcom collateral and you’re ready to go. Right?
Nope. Wrong. You forgot something crucially important. (more…)